Horsemeat

Someone mentioned the butcher shop selling horseflesh at the bottom of the Wellgate. I worked there as a laddie after school and on Saturdays, earning £1 a week. And yes, we sold only horsemeat. If I remember correctly beef was rationed at the time (1950) and the queues outside the shop were quite long on most days. We used to get a big parcel of meat home with us on a Saturday night, steaks, joints, sausages etc.

The first time I took some home we all felt a bit guilty eating a poor wee horse, but I remembered something the boss said "These horse were bred for the purpose. Never had a shoe on their hooves" and an empty belly was easily persuaded.

With regard to beef being rationed, much of my work entailed taking parcels of horsemeat to various butcher shops round the city. "If anybody says anything tell them a man gave you a tanner to take it in!" I never gave it a thought and it was only in later years that I realise the butchers were selling it as beef!